T​he Miura is Lamborghini's most beautiful car ever

Ferruccio Lamborghini's first ever supercar was never supposed to happen.

We all know the story of Ferruccio Lamborghini. The Italian industrialist started manufacturing tractors before ultimately switching to road cars. This change was triggered by an argument between Enzo Ferrari and Ferruccio Lamborghini when the latter complained about the poor-quality clutches that equipped the "Prancing Horse" cars. Lamborghini liked Ferrari's cars and even owned several models, but he thought they lacked built-quality as well as comfort.

Lamborghini had a vision, and he went on to create his own luxury cars. More focused towards grand tourers with plush interiors, Ferruccio wanted to produce cars that offered no compromises. The watchwords were performance, comfort, and luxury. Moreover, it was out of a question to compete against Ferrari and his track-focused sports cars. In 1963, Automobili Lamborghini was on, but after only three years, the company's initial strategy took a different turn. In fact, Lamborghini was ready to show the world who was the best at producing supercars.

Remember when I said that Ferruccio Lamborghini refused to tackle the high-performance car segment? Well, it didn't stop his engineers from working extra hours to develop a secret project that would stun the world. The engineers' objective was to convince Ferruccio that a car with racing pedigree that could be driven on the road could be good for business. When presented with the first drafts, Mister Lamborghini was impressed but only found it valuable as a marketing tool. The engineers were given the opportunity to build a rolling chassis that could be showcased at the 1965 Turin motor show. Even though the chassis didn't have a body, some interested customers placed orders. Lamborghini already had a first glimpse of the success such a car could meet. Marcello Gandini, a young designer working at Bertone, was in charge of designing the body of the car, and his hour of glory came in 1966 at the Geneva motor show when Lamborghini revealed the styling prototype. I​ts name was the P400, and it immediately became the star of the show. After seeing the favorable reaction, Ferruccio Lamborghini understood the financial importance that a car like this could bring to the company, and he green lit the project.

The P400 was renamed "Miura" in honor of a famous fighting bull breeder in Spain. Ferruccio Lamborghini was fascinated by bullfighting and decided to name all his creations after things related to bulls. The Miura was the first supercar to be have a rear mid-engined two-seat construction. Today, this has become a standard for most supercar manufacturers, even Ferrari. From Frank Sinatra to Miles Davis, everybody wanted one, even Hollywood. Indeed, in 1969, the car became famous when it featured in the Italian Job movie where you can see it drive around in the Alps. The Miura was something the world had never seen. It was utterly beautiful and completely different from any other sports car. In fact, in terms of design, we are far away from what modern Lamborghinis look like. Instead of sharp edges and jet fighter inspirations, the Miura had feminine and sensuous lines. The result is one of the most beautiful and timeless designs that has ever came out the Sant'Agata factory.

T​he Miura wasn't only amazing to look at, it was a benchmark in terms of driving. Today, the car feels very heavy, but it will still put a large smile on its driver. The Miura came with a 3.9-litres V12 that produced 350 horsepower. It may be less than an A45 AMG, but bear in mind that this was over 50 years ago. The Miura also was the fastest production car of its time with a top speed of 280 km/h, and that is pretty fast even by today's standards. The success of Lamborghini's first supercar did not stop there. The company from Sant'Agata went on to produce different versions of its Miura like the S, SV, P400 Jota, P400 SV/J and even a one-off roadster.

The Miura may have become one of the most iconic Lamborghinis ever, and is recognized as one of the most beautiful cars ever built. It cost $20'000 ($157'600 in 2019) when it came out over 50 years ago, but unfortunately this car will remain a dream for most of us. Today, the Miura is worth around one million dollars, which makes it less expensive than a modern Veneno. I don't know about you, but this seems unbelievable to me.

Fun fact: this red Lamborghini Miura S you see on every picture used to belong to a prostitute in Zurich, Switzerland. It was repainted in black and had a leopard interior. It was then bought for CHF15'000.- (approx. £12.5K) in the late 80's, and the current owner restored it back to its original colour and interior. He still owns this car today.

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I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the Perego Cars garage located in Switzerland, for letting me review this car.

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